Letteb-box



E. B. HILLMAN.

LETTER BOX.

APPLICATIQN FILED JUNE 15. I915.

Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

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E. B. HlLLMAN.

LETTERBOX.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE I5. I9I5. 1 ,1 95,01 6. Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

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UNITED STATES PATENT FFIQE.

EVAN B. HILLMAN, OF TACOMA, WASHINGTON.

LETTER-BOX.

Application filed June 15, 1915.

and useful Improvements in Letter-Boxes,

and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to deposit and col lection receptacles, and more especially to letter boxes; and the primary object of the same is to produce a letter box wherein the signal is actuated by the insertion of the first piece of mail, and yet provision is made adapting the box for the reception of much additional mail matter without affecting the signal.

Other objects will appear from the following specification and claims, and reference is made to the accompanying drawings wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of this mail box in its closed condition, and Fig. 2 is a vertical section on about the line 22 of Fig. 1 with the internal parts in full lines in the position they occupy when the box is empty, and in dotted lines to show their position when mail matter is inserted. Fig. 3 is a similar section showing the box as open so that the postman may collect the'mail. Fig. 4 is a cross section on the line H of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a perspective detail of the false bottom including the grate, Fig. 6 a similar detail of the tongue, and Fig. 7 a fragmentary detail showing the attachment of the arms to the door.

In the drawings I have illustrated a boxshaped receptacle R having a flat bottom B, an arched top T, a closed and fixed rear end E, and an open front end adapted to be closed by a door D which is hinged at its lower edge at H to the front edge of the bottom and adapted to be locked at its upper edge as indicated at L. This receptacle or box is illustratedas mounted on a support such as a post P. The door will have an opening 0 for the insertlon of mall, and this opening will itself be covered by a little door or flap as usual. No novelty 1s clalmed for the parts thus far referred to.

Movably mounted within the body of the receptacle R is a false bottom which I prefer to make of wire. It comprises two slde Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 15,1916.

Serial No. 3 1,288.

arms 1 pivotally connected at their front ends at 2 to the door at a point above the hinge H but beneath the drop opening 0, and from these points the arms are ex tended into the body R along its sides, with their rear ends formed into spring coils 3 adapted to rest on the bottom B near the rear end E when the door is closed as seen 1n Fig. 2. From sa d coils the stretches of Wire forming the coils are carried thence forward in side bars 1 normally paralleling the arms 1, and these side bars constitute parts of a panel which is broadly indicated by the reference numeral 5. As seen in Fig. 5 this panel has a front bar 6 whose extremities 7 project laterally beyond the side bars 4 and beneath the arms 1 and constitute stops, and from this bar 6 a number of longitudinal bars 8 extend straight rearward and have their rear ends upturned as at 9 and connected by another cross bar 10 so that these ends and this bar constitute a ledge standing some distance forward of the coils 3 as perhaps best seen in Fig. 2. I do not wish to be limited to this precise construction of the panel, but have shown and described it as perhapsthe preferred manner of making a light open structure which will serve the purpose of a grate. However it is made, it must be carried by the side bars 1 whose normal tendency is up ward on account of the spring coils 3, this tendency must be limited by stops 7, and the panel whether perforated or slatted must have a slot 11 along its center for a purpose yet to appear. Also it is preferable that the rear edge of the panel or grate have an upstanding ledge as shown at 9 and 10.

Disposed at the transverse center of the receptacle R near its front end is a tongue 12, made preferably of wire and of about the shape best seen in Fig. 6, and the body of this tongue hangs normally through the slot 11 and rests against a stop 13 as seen in full lines in Fig. 2, which stop is fastened to the bottom B and may itself be a little Liron bracket. The upper end of the tongue is rigidly connected at 14 with the arched or cranked center of a crank shaft 15 having trunnions 16 and 17 journaled in the sides of the receptacle R as best seen in Fig. 4. One of these trunnions is upturned on the outside of the box in an arm 18 whose outer end carries a signal S which is herein shown as a disk or flag of bright color so as to catch the eye of the postman, and when the crank stands upright this signal is down and the tongue depends from the crank and rests against the stop 13. Finally a chain or other flexible member 19 connects a point 20 on the front end of the grate with a point 21 on the crank near one of its trunnions as 17 and hence near one side of the box or body It, and the length of this chain will be such as to produce the action described below.

In use, the parts normally stand as seen in full lines in Figs. 1 and 2. When new a letter or other piece of mail is inserted through the opening 0 onto the false bottom, it passes over the front end of the grate 5 which at this time is supported by the spring coils 3, and strikes the front edge of the tongue 12 which at this time hangs through the slot 11 by its own gravity. As the letter is pushed into place the tongue is turned upward within said slot to the dotted lines in Fig. 2, and this turns the crank shaft and raises the arm 18 and signal S. Hence the insertion of a single piece of mail matter scts the signal. It is quite possible now for other pieces of mail to be inserted, and they pass either over or under the initial piece and have no further effect on the tongue or signal. Even if considerable mail matter is put into the box before the latter is emptied the letters, papers, etc., merely accumulate beneath the now elevated tongue, with the result that they depress the grate 5 as the coils 3 permit, so that eventually it may assume the position seen in dotted lines in Fig. 2; yet the ledge 10 prevents the mail matter from getting into the rear end of the box unless the latter be filled to its extreme.

hen the postman comes to take out the mail, he unlocks the door D at L and moves it downward and forward on its hinges H i so that the parts assume the position shown in Fig. 3. The pivotal points 2 travel downward into the plane of the bottom 13, and carry with them the front ends of the arms 1, and therefore the coils 3 are slid forward over the bottom and the entire grate or false bottom dropped flat onto the fixed bottom as seen in this view. The movement of the point 20 downward and forward in this movement of the false bottom, tightens the chain 19 and draws the point 21 downward and forward so that the crank shaft 15 is turned on its trunnions and the tongue is raised almost if not completely to a horizontal position within the body R. Hence the opening of the door D permits the descent of the false bottom and bulk of mail matter and simultaneously causes the rise of tongue 12, and the postman can insert his hand and take out the mail. The letter will be found to have been drawn forward by the ledge 10 unless the box is very full, and it is quite possible to carry the ledge up higher within the box so that rarely if ever will a piece of mail get behind it. Having emptied the box the postman closes and locks the door so that the parts assume the position shown in Fig. 1.

i/Vhat I claim is:

1. In a letter box, the combination with a receptacle, a door at its front end provided with a letter-opening and hinged at its lower edge to said receptacle, and a signal; of a false bottom having its front end pivoted to the door just beneath. said opening, a shaft journaled across the body and having one end connected with said signal, a tongue fixed to the shaft and hanging normally across said opening, a crank in said shaft, and connections between the false bottom and crank for turning the shaft when the door is opened.

2. In a letter box, the combination with a receptacle, a door provided with a letteropening and hinged at its lower edge to the front end of said receptacle, and a sig nal; of a false bottom having its front end pivoted to the door above its hinge and its body provided with a longitudinal slot, a shaft journaled across the body and having one end connected with said signal, a tongue fixed to the shaft and hanging normally across said opening and through the slot in the false bottom, a stop on the bottom of the receptacle with which said tongue normally contacts, connections between the false bottom and shaft for turning the latter to raise the tongue when the false bottom is depressed.

3. In a letter box, the combination with a receptacle, a door at its front end provided with a letter-opening and hinged at its lower edge to said receptacle, and a signal; of a false bottom having its front end pivoted to the door just beneath said opening, a

shaft journaled across the body and having one end connected with said signal, a tongue fixed to the shaft and hanging normally across said opening, a crank in said shaft, and a flexible member connecting said crank with a point on the false bottom near one side of the latter and near its pivotal connection with said door, for the purpose set forth.

4. In a letter box, the combination with a receptacle, a door at its front end provided with a letter-opening and hinged at its lower edge to said receptacle, and a signal; of a false bottom comprising side arms pivoted at their front ends to said door beneath its opening, a grate having an upstanding ledge at its rear end and stops at its front end underlying said arms, its side bars paralleling such arms, and spring connections between the arms and bars respectively; a tongue pivotally supported within the receptacle and hanging normally across the letteropening and through the grate, connections between the front end of the grate and the tongue for raising the tongue when the grate is depressed to its limit, and means for moving the signal by the elevation of the tongue.

5. In a letter box, the combination with a receptacle, a door at its front end provided with a letter-opening and hinged at its lower edge to said receptacle, and a signal; of a false bottom comprising side arms pivoted at their front ends to said door beneath its opening, a grate having stops at its front end underlying said arms, its side bars paralleling such arms, and spring coils integrally uniting the rear ends of the arms and bars respectively; a tongue pivotally supported within the receptacle and hanging normally across the letter-opening and through the grate, means for raising the tongue when the grate is depressed to its hunt, and means for moving the signal by the elevation of the tongue.

6. In a letter box, the combination with a receptacle, and a door at its front end provided with a letter-opening and hinged at its lower edge to said receptacle; of a false bottom comprising side arms pivoted at their front ends to said door beneath its opening, a grate having stops at its front end underlying said arms, its side bars paralleling such arms, and spring connections between the arms and bars respectively; a tongue pivotally supported within the receptacle and hanging normally across the letter-opening and through the grate, and connections between the front end of the grate and the tongue for raising the tongue when the grate is depressed to its limit.

7. In a letter box, the combination with a receptacle,,and a door at its front end provided with a letter-opening and hinged at its lower edge to said receptacle; of a false bottom having its front end pivoted to the door just beneath said opening, a shaft j ournaled across the body, a tongue fixed to the shaft and hanging normally across said opening, a crank in said shaft, and a chain connecting said crank with a point on the false bottom near its pivotal connection with said door, for the purpose set forth.

8. In a letter box, the combination with a receptacle having a fiat fixed bottom and an open front end, and a door hinged at its lower edge to the front end of said bottom and having a letter-opening; of a false bottom whose rear end slides on the fixed bottom and Whose front end is pivoted to the door just beneath said opening, its body having a longitudinal slot, a tongue pivoted at its upper end within the forward part of the receptacle and hanging normally across said opening and through said slot, and connections between the tongue and false bottom for raising the free end of the tongue to its limit when said false bottom is depressed to its limit.

9. In a letter box, the combination with a receptacle having a fiat fixed bottom and an open front end, and a door hinged at its lower edge to the front end of said bottom and having a letter-opening; of a false bot tom whose rear end slides on the fixed bottom and whose front end is pivoted to the door just beneath said opening, a yieldingly supported panel carried by said false bottom and having a longitudinal slot, a tongue pivoted at its upper end within the forward part of the receptacle and hanging normally across said opening and through said slot, and connections between the tongue and panel permitting the partial descent of the latter but raising the tongue to its limit when the false bottom and panel are depressed to their limit by the opening of the door.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EVAN B. HILLMAN. \Vitnesses:

JAMns GALLIHUGH, EMIL N. STENBERG.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

